The Main Points of the Irish Softcoated Wheaten Terrier Presentation
by
Mrs. Maureen Holmes on the 15th July 1995
Dublin, Ireland at
The 8TH World Congress of Kennel Clubs.
The 8th World Congress of Kennel Clubs was held from 13th till 15th of July in Dublin Ireland. Host of the congress was the Irish Kennel Club (I.K.C.). On the Sunday following the congress a show was held on the Irish Kennel Club's own grounds.
On the congress delegates of the F.C.I. countries , the American Kennel Club and the English Kennel Club came together to discuss common issues. Along with the congress the I.K.C. organized several activities, the main feature being the Irish Native Breeds.
All activities took place in the attractive historic setting of Trinity College.
The feature on the Irish Native Breeds was divided in two presentations on two consecutive
days. The first day all Breed representatives were allowed a 15 minutes presentation to enable
the delegates to follow these, as much of their time was taken up by the congress meetings.
Unfortunately Mrs. Maureen Holmes, the longest established breeder of the Irish Softcoated
Wheaten Terrier (Holmenocks), retired all-round Judge and authour of the only true standard
works on Wheatens ["The Wheaten Years" (out of print) and "The Softcoated Wheaten
Terrier"], was not able to do her presentations as she was in hospital.
The 15 minutes presentation therefore was done by Mr. Tony Killykeen Doyle, Chairman of the IRISH SOFTCOATED WHEATEN TERRIER Club of Ireland.
Very strongly he put forward the enormous problem of the changing of the Breed in several
countries. Besides his own strong wordings he used some equally outspoken phrases from Mrs.
Maureen Holmes' longer speech, scheduled for the next day, when all the breed representatives
had approx. one hour to emphasize on their breed.
In the course of the other presentations it became clear that more Irish Native Breeds
encountered the same problems as the IRISH SOFTCOATED WHEATEN TERRIER: untypical
dogs are put forward because of their flashiness instead of being of excellent breed type, because
of sheer ignorance or plain des-interest in the Breed of some Judges. Thus the true typical
specimen are threatened with extinction.
Mr. Doyle got enormous support from a very attentive and interested audience that filled the
auditorium to capacity : questions were asked and several suggestions were made to try and
solve the problem(s).
The next day Mrs. Marry O'Caroll took Mrs. Maureen Holmes' place doing the longer
presentation.
The following are the main salient point of her speech.
Mrs. Holmes started her speech with a historical review of the Breeds development in Ireland up
till the official recognition in 1937.
The 17th of March 1937 saw them make their debut as an officially registered Breed at the I.K.C.
Championship Show. Although the 10 specimens on show were widely different in various ways
they were all recognizable as a Breed and got a warm welcome from the general public.
Next she went into her own involvement with the Breed, which started (in hindsight) in 1932
and became more active some time after the 1937 show when she met Dr. Pierce and bought
Silver Wheat from him. In 1943 Mrs Holmes won her first prize and a cup for best puppy at the
I.K.C. Championship Show. Thus started the Holmenocks saga.
Over the years the Breed progressed and spread from one country to another.
At present (1995) it has already spread in some 22 countries around the world.
A great deal of trouble and controversy have arisen as a result of the invasion of some
European countries by retired American Champions of a different type, style and build. Used
extensively at stud because of their smart flashy appearance they have almost decimated the
sturdy Irish Terrier type as depicted in our Official Standard.
At this part of her presentation she referred to the Official Irish S.C.W.T. Standard, which was reproduced together with an explanation of the various points.
Special emphasize was on the item : 16 & 17 of the Standard relating to "Coat" & "Colour" and
20 : "Disqualifications". After this she went on with:
It is an accepted fact that all breeds of dogs have a Standard of Points, a set of specifications,
which lay down the various requirements that apply to each breed for the guidance of owners,
breeders and judges alike. These requirements are drawn up in the various countries of origin
by experts. people who know intimately, and have been associated very closely with each breed
over a long period.
Indiscriminate breeding has brought this Irish breed to the brink of disaster. It is being
produced at such a rate that it has lost all recognition with what it should be. The American
Softcoated Wheaten Terrier Club drew up their own standard of points at the very beginning but
their dogs no longer fit that standard or any other one either. It has been completely forgotten
that nature designed this Irish dog as one of late maturity in common with most of his National
contemporaries.
No one (in America) was prepared to wait for maturity and somehow an alien woolly coat was engineered into the breed. The main result of this unprecedented step was very young PUPS appearing in the ring with the supposed coat of maturity of the wrong texture and colour and winning their Championship titles long before they were sufficiently developed or ready.
Such has been the preoccupation with coat that size, build, colour and important breed points
have been quite overlooked. New diseases have made their appearance and the well known
breed longevity is threatened.
The standard of points in any breed is, to the dog to which it applies, his most important
document. It is a set of specifications to which a dog must conform as closely as possible. As an
architect or an engineer uses a plan, a blue print for his projects so a breeder should apply the
appropriate standard to his breeding program. It is not a whim of taste, or personal preference
or current fashion. It is not open to change or alteration by anyone who objects to some of its
requirements. It tells the breeder what is right and what is wrong. His aim should be to
consolidate what is right and to eliminate what is wrong as best he can in his products.
Standards are drawn up in countries of origin by people who have forgotten more about dogs
than many other will ever know. No one has any right to abolish them or overlook them because
only owners in the country of origin have a complete knowledge of that country's dogs. The
standard may be enlarged or added to as years pass but its basic requirements for build and
breed points are never changed because they SPELL OUT what the dog, to which they apply
should be. It is to that dog his passport, his identification as a member of this or that breed. The
Federation Cynologique International (F.C.I.) recognized this from the start and their basic rule
is that only the country of origin of a particular breed is entitled to make any changes in the
Standard. This to prevent diversification within any breed as each country will come up with its
own interpretation of what the dogs should look like.
One of the reasons for this is that we live in a very diversified world in which rapid changes are
occurring, most of the time because the vogue has changed, i.e. certain people feel that things
should be changed as they look better or are more showy.
Unfortunately this has also happened in our breed The Irish Softcoated Wheaten Terrier. Next to
the Official Irish Standard there exists an English, an American and a Canadian Version.
The standard in fact is and should be as already stated a specification (just like in civil
engineering or architecture) which spell out in detail what is right and what is wrong.
Dogs are part of a country's cultural heritage and like all valuable things should be preserved.
The standard tries to safeguard what was and still ought to be.
It is very easy to deviate from what the original dogs looked like both in appearance and
character. Looking around at the show grounds one sees ample proof of this as many breeds
became too popular with the negative phenomena that go with it; i.e. dogs that are too big, too
hairy, too curly, too docile, overangulated and to exaggerated etc., etc.
In many breeds this eventually resulted in a working type the way the animals used to be and the
show type, animals that are only fit to perform at a show and WOULD not survive in the real
dog world, which is nonsense as far as Irish Softcoated Wheaten are concerned, all show
champions up to 1966 had to win a qualifying field trial certificate to complete their titles the
same as gundogs. This qualification was abolished in 1966 because of abuses that had appeared
in this breed. The fact that show type dogs exist is a man-made distinction based on selective
breeding (or illegal cross breeding) to arrive at an exaggerated point which the breeder feels is
better.
Dog breeding is in fact, apart from the idealistic few, for many people a lucrative hobby in
which the demand of the market or the personal taste of newcomers in the breed is sometimes
more governing than the compliance with the standard.
The incidence of a large amount of faulty dogs (i.e. not answering to the Irish Standard) is by no
means an incentive to change the Standard. It just proves that breeders, exhibitors and (some)
Judges did not do their Job correctly!
Wheatens should be wheaten in colour with coats that are silky with a golden shine or hue and
TERRIER in type and not like the ever increasing number of dog that are bred abroad and are
called "Wheatens" over there. No dogs with colours other than wheaten, no woolly coats and or
over exaggerated volume of hair of the wrong texture, no domed skulls, no yellow eyes, no over
angulated hindlegs preventing proper forward drive, nor the introduction of apparently
crosslinked killing diseases most probably brought about by introducing interbreeding with
other breeds (e.g. Poodles, Bobtails, Cockapo or the like) are allowed nor wanted in the breed.
It is the difficult task of the breed clubs to prevent these deviations and their only guidance is the
Irish Standard as recognized and distributed by the F.C.I.
The breed club shall educate its breeders at home and abroad and shall educate the exhibitors
at shows and most of all educate the breed judges at home and abroad.
No one outside the breed club in the country of origin should be allowed to interfere.
The standard as it is, is clear and straightforward. People in different countries, including
Ireland, are well able to breed quality Wheatens according to the correct Irish Standard.
Only in England, America and Canada people had to make their own standard and are not even able or willing to breed dogs according to it, as they have no intention whatsoever of heeding anything.
Their guide is personal taste. Thus the dogs are changed beyond recognition! Judges, that don't
want to know or just don't know (out of ignorance) and do not put in an effort to study the
correct Irish Standard, destroy the breed because they PUT UP these untypical dogs, some
people want to call Wheatens.
It might be a good idea if breed clubs or even the Kennel Clubs would re-evaluate the way in which Judges carry out their tasks as safe keepers of the breeds and not the followers and fixers of the trends and vogues that certain breeders try to introduce.
Dogs judged and placed shall always be true to type and be excellent samples of the breed they
are representing.
Issuing certificates which have to be renewed after a number of years, just like your driving
license, might prove to be necessary for certain judges who divert from the right track, the
official recognized F.C.I. standard for the breed.
It is regrettable that the differences between the four standards are only minimal but the dogs
being produced in accordance with the three overseas standards are not representative of any
standard. In general size, type, colour and texture of coat and character are all deviant and
strange. These variations tell a knowledgeable onlooker that the breeders of these dogs have
only a nodding acquaintance with their breed standard. By their irresponsible actions they have
created a breed within a breed.
The breed was first mutated in England and than in North America. The main problem is that lot
of these mutations have been imported into England and Europe. When bred with existent stock
in these countries they are producing, a sub-species which has little or no resemblance to The
Irish Softcoated Wheaten Terrier. The culprits today are not representative of the standard to
which Judges should adhere.
The answer lies with the Kennel Clubs in all countries where this Irish breed is recognised.
Look at your own Kennel Club Standard, then check what is happening in your show rings.
Our nine Irish Native Breeds are part of our cultural heritage from our predecessors. We are
only the custodians of these breeds while we are here and its seems to me that we have a moral
obligation to cherish and protect them to the best of our ability so that they may be handed on to
our successors in the shape and form originally laid down for them.
We here in Ireland cannot even consider the effects of further divergence from the official
standard. If there is any more mutation we will have to call a halt and go it alone. We will
always support as strongly as possible the handfuls of people in all countries who are fighting a
losing battle in producing the correct Irish standard type of Irish Softcoated Wheaten Terrier.
The only change that is urgently needed is the mentality of Breeders, Exhibitors and Judges i.e.
to adhere to and comply with the OFFICIAL IRISH STANDARD.
My sincere thanks to our esteemed and distinguished visitors for their attention and interest in our breed which we owners are lucky enough to have in our families and to enjoy.
We welcome you to our country and may you always remember your visit with pleasure.
Mrs. Maureen Holmes, July 1995
Hon. Secretary & Treasurer of the "Irish .S.C.W.T. Club" of Ireland.
The Irish Standard together with an explanation of some points by Mrs. Maureen Holmes are part of this home page can be found via the Main Page.